Grin and bear it: mirror invented for cancer patients forces them to smile

In your regular update on awful tech products, may I present the “Smile mirror”, a mirror designed for cancer patients that becomes reflective only when the user smiles.

Designed by someone actually called Berk, the idea behind the mirror is that smiling, even if faked, can make us genuinely feel better (known as the facial feedback hypothesis), and that laughter can improve immune function and even ostensibly make us live longer.

The evidence for the effect is dubious, but more to the point … it is possible to smile when looking into a normal mirror. The product is a screen fitted with a camera that uses facial recognition to tell when an individual is smiling, which turns the screen reflective.

The product was designed by a man and it is noticeable that a woman has been used in the mirror’s promotional photography, which speaks to the “cheer up, love” element of which this product smacks.

Berk Ilhan says that he created the mirror while a student at the School of Visual Arts in New York, after consultation with oncologists and cancer patients. One of whom told Ilhan that it was difficult to face up to having the illness. Ilhan clearly took “face up” in its most literal sense.

Not to entirely disparage an idea that came from a good place, but for my money this strikes me as one of the more idiotic products to be mooted. And it costs a lot of money – the Smile mirror is set to retail between $2,000 and $3,000. Somehow I doubt this will be a priority for the cash-strapped NHS (Ilhan eventually hopes to sell the product to hospitals).

Initial reaction to the mirror suggests people are not amused:

Ilhan hopes to crowdfund the mirror on Kickstarter soon; so if you’re a person with cancer who hasn’t tired of the emotional burden of being told to think positive, or a woman who hasn’t been told enough by men to smile, then start saving.